The Center, a Presidential priority, was created by and for Towson University faculty.

We support an inclusive and collaborative faculty community and foster a culture of excellence in scholarship and teaching.

towson.edu/facet

Harnessing AI for Student Success:

Creating AI-Infused Course Assignments in the Arts and Sciences

​

April 26, 2024

Session Description

Generative AI can play different roles in support of learning: sounding board, tutor, and information summarizer. After researching how AI can support learning, the presenters took existing writing, problem-solving, and music composition & performance assignments and added AI interactions at appropriate steps. The presenters will share their experiences and discuss emergent issues, including effective modes of AI integration and prompt engineering.

Outline

• Ethical use of AI
• Examples from AI-assisted assignments in Music Composition, Chemistry (Ethics/Writing), and other content areas
• Conclusions and Lessons Learned 

Examples of AI in Everyday Life

• Spam filters
• Movie recommendations
• Healthcare diagnostics
• Trip planners
• Virtual assistant

• Chatbots
• Navigation systems
• Autocomplete
• Spelling and grammar check tools 
• Speech to text tools 
• Transcript generating tools
• Face and voice recognition
• Banking anomaly detection 

Music Composition with AI

​

• The first complete AI generated musical composition for traditional instruments: Lejaren Hiller’s Illiac Suite for String Quartet (1956).

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

• By the 1980s, innovators such as David Cope created software including one titled Experiments in Musical Intelligence (EMI) that could analyze the works of Bach and Mozart and create new works in their style.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Stephen Thaler and A Recent Entrance to Paradise�(February 12, 2012)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Source: artnet.com

Copyright Office Registration Guidance:�Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence�Published on March 16, 2023�

​

​

​

​

The Human Authorship Requirement

“[C]opyright can protect only material that is the product of human creativity. Most fundamentally, the term ‘author,’ which is used in both the Constitution and the Copyright Act, excludes non-humans.”

​

​

​

​

Source : Federal Register

​

​

​

​

​

Summary Thaler v. Vidal & Future

“In Thaler, the Federal Circuit held that the Patent Act requires inventors to be natural persons based on [the] unambiguous use of the term ‘individual’ throughout the Patent Act.”

​

“The issue of AI inventorship now reverts to Congress, where there has at least been some interest in examining revisions to the Patent Act, and relatedly the Copyright Act, to address AI inventorship and authorship.”

​

Source: McCarter & English”

Artificial Intelligence & Trumpet Performance: ​�Three Practical Applications

I. Create a Video with AI Images for a Fixed Media Work (or Other Music).​

​

II. Practice or Perform with an AI Music Visualizer.​

​

III. Improvise Over an AI Soundscape.

Video with AI Images for a Fixed Media Work�

Assignment Goals

I. Describe the music with words to assist interpretation and stylistic elements.

​

II. Utilize these words to generate images that inform as above and support imagination.

​

III. Produce an enhanced performance with video as well as audio.

​

IV. Learn principles of Generative AI.

​

​

Ethical Issues: Email from Student

• “I've been thinking and I'm not entirely comfortable using AI images for my performance. While I think it's a cool idea, I have concerns with AI image generators, both in concept and with how the machines are trained, and I can elaborate on that if you want. I'm fine to make the images for a grade if necessary but I would not like to perform with the AI images behind me.”

Assignments in a Writing Course on Professional

Ethics for Scientists

Working from the Concept of Copyright in a Core Curriculum Writing Course Focused on Professional Ethics for Scientists

• Test an AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot, Bard, Scribe, Duet AI, Generate)
• Consider the TU Code of Conduct definition of plagiarism 
• Assignment: Write a short paper (500-800) words comparing and contrasting the AI tool and the concept of text generation and plagiarism 
• In other words, what is an ethical use of AI and what is not? 
• Submit your draft and final papers

​

Self-Guided Tour of AI Applications to Faculty Life

(Self-guided tour is 5 pages, with 10 tasks to complete in any order)

Self-Guided Tour: Assignment Integration Task

Different uses of AI in course assignments:

• AI as tutor
• AI as problem and outline generator
• AI as soundboard
• As as gamemaster
• Escape rooms, CYA adventures, etc.
• Students interacting with AI in a controlled environment

AI Resources

AI Image Generators

www.fotor.com, www.craiyon.com, www.canva.com, and www.dezgo.com

​

AI Music Visualizers

Websites: rave.ajm13.com and butterchurnviz.com

Apps: Animus, Phasr, Synthesia, vsound, and Vythm

​

Online Sound Generators

asoftmurmur.com, mynoise.net, and soundescape.io

​

AI Music Composition Software

Magenta, Orb Producer Suite, Amper, Aiva, MuseNet, Jukedeck, Wavtool, Brain.fm, Ecrett Music, and Boomy

​

Magic School

Magicschool.ai

​

AI Self-Guided Tour

https://www.towson.edu/provost/initiatives/faculty-center/documents/online-teaching/ai-tour.docx